In addition to all the nutso events gracing my newsfeed, this winter’s weather has been crazy on the East Coast. It has gone from snow to summer and back again virtually every week since the end of December. I’ll go so far to say that January has been like the world’s biggest “threenager.”

If you haven’t been around kids much, you may not know exactly what a “threenager” is. Imagine a three-year-old child who thinks he or she has just crossed the line into teenagerdom. Said child wants all needs met yesterday, even though those needs and wants can change direction quicker than the wind in January. Considering the fact that we’ve had tornadoes over here, I’d say January’s winds have been pretty fast. Here are three reasons why this winter has resembled both my kids (and possibly everyone else’s) at three years old.

1. January could not decide if it was hot or cold.

Temperatures have ranged from 0 to 75 in as little as four days. Have you ever taken a car ride with a three-year-old? I’ve nearly worn the button out on my console trying to appease everyone’s temperature tastes. Perimenopause and toddlerdom can really shake up an AC unit in both a vehicle and in a house.

2. This winter changes its mind almost daily.

The last thirty-one days have left us unsure whether we should race off to buy sleds for the kids, dig out our flip-flops, or hide in the storm cellar. Parents of threenagers live similar drama each day. Do we buy chicken nuggets or will they be secretly fed to the dog under the table? What about peanut butter? Last week our toddler threw it up all over his plate. This week, we caught him spooning peanut butter straight out of the jar using the leg of a naked Barbie Doll. Is it dinosaurs? Ninja turtles? The blue cup? The red cup? Who knows? Like this East Coast winter, every day with a threenager is a mystery.

3. January has had one meltdown after another.

One weekend, we had a blizzard. The next weekend we had flooding downpours. The following weekend we had an unprecedented number of tornadoes. January has been completely unable to get it together, like this little kid I saw flipping out at Food Lion because they exchanged the Scooby Doo gummy display for an Elmo display. That kid to which I’m referring may or may not have been one of my spawn. It’s like this whole month has been banging its fists on the floor of the snack aisle and trying to sneak cookies in the cart. Welcome to Threenagerdom.

Sanity Packets For Teachers and Parents

So now, we’ve just crossed the line into February with tumultuous temperatures ahead. Since none of us teachers has a clue when or if the next snowcation will show up, I have created a Snow-Day No-Prep Long Weekend pack. It’s tough to maintain the momentum with so many days off. Sending home some reading practice will help that and keep the kids out of the parents’ hair when everyone is stuck inside. Good luck. Stay warm, stay cool, or just stay safe throughout the month of February!